Oshell’s Valu-Mart celebrates 70-year milestone

It’s a rare business that can flourish for seven decades, but Oshell’s Valu-Mart in Powassan has done just that, and to celebrate, staff are hosting a barbeque outside the store to thank the community for its support throughout the years.

What’s the secret to such longevity? Paul Oshell, who currently operates the store, summed it up – “Give good customer service and have a good staff, and we’ve always had excellent staff.”

Paul’s wife, Sue, explained that they’ve been running the store for the past 15 years, and “it’s been a family-run business for 70 years.”

For those of a certain vintage, you’ll recall the store began as the Red & White. It was founded by Paul’s parents, Mervyn and Rita Oshell in 1954. It was a new build, and was a great addition to King Street, now known as Main.

Red & White was about 1,800 square feet and the store was supplied by National Grocers. In those early years, Merv employed eight people.

As the decade rolled on, more room was desired, and in 1960, the first of seven expansions took place, when an area was added to the back of the store, more than doubling the square footage. In 1966, another area was added to the north side with another 2,000 square feet, and in 1975 there were further expansions.

Merv and Rita’s son, Peter, started working full time in 1974, and along with his wife Elaine, took over operating the store in 1977. A new façade was added to the exterior that year, as were some new check-out counters. A new walk-in meat cooler was also added to the southwest corner of the building.

The next decade marked a significant change, because in 1985 the business converted from a Red & White to Oshell’s Valu-Mart, complete with a new look for the business. Two years later, many changes were completed to the store’s interior.

A massive addition of 5,000 square feet was built in 1991, and today, the store is nearly 15,000 square feet.

Peter and Elaine decided to retire from running the business in 2010, although Peter still works part-time. It was at that time when Paul and Sue took the reins as owners. Paul is Merv’s youngest son. Throughout those many years, all five of Merv and Rita’s children have worked at the store, including their daughter Donna Arkwright, who has been there for 48 years.

Paul mentioned the importance of an excellent staff, and there are some very dedicated employees at Oshell’s. Paul’s been there for 45 years – and Sue, since retiring, works part-time – and Peter has worked for the family business for 50 years.

Janet Lockhart has been with them for 15 years, Marty Walsh 16, Faith Scott 17, and Pam Kunkel has been with Oshell’s for 28 years. Barry Lamb is celebrating 38 years at the store, and Gerry Mathias has been working at Oshell’s for almost as long as Peter has – 49 years.

Today, the store employs 36 people.

“I’m quite proud that we’ve been at it for so long as a family,” Paul said, “and we’d like to thank the community for all of their support over all of these years. They’ve stuck with us for a long time.”

Seventy years, as of July 29.

To celebrate, and thank the neighbours, Oshell’s is hosting a free barbeque on Saturday July 27. Stop by from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to enjoy some food, listen to some live music by the Blackbirds, and wish the crew another 70 years on Main.

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.